Strength of Mind
by OurScars
Summary: Sequel to 'Five Years.' 003 is effectevely powerless, while Stitch seems to get stronger everyday. In order to win back Jumba's pride, 003's only hope may be to face the new enemy that he helped to bring into this world.
1. Chapter 1: A Rising Challenge

**Disclaimer:** Lilo and Stitch and all related characters and settings belong to Disney and Chris Sanders.

**Note:** This is a sequel to Five Years. Although I do hope you have already or will read it, you should still be able to figure things out.

Please Review and Please Enjoy

**Chapter 1: A Rising Challenge **

A thick fog crept along the ground outside of their house, not a common occurrence in this part of the world. But whether it was common or not, the blinding cloud was keeping everyone inside, holed up in the house with nothing to do. Never a good thing in this household. So it wasn't too long until a loud crash sounded from inside the home, followed by a shout from a very upset older sister.

"Lilo!" Nani shouted, "Stitch!" The two culprits came back into the kitchen, their heads hung low. A pile of pots and pans littered the floor beneath a recently opened cabinet. Maybe it had been an accident, maybe it had been a prank, either way, "Pick this up!" Nani commanded, pointing at the pile of cooking-ware. There was much mumbling, but the two miscreants completed the task, quickly running off to find something more interesting to do. They ran down the hall and into the room at the end. Over a year before, this room had been Lilo's room, but now it belonged to a pair of aliens that had become a large part of the crazy ohana.

"Little Girl!" called a deep voice, thick with an alien accent, "626!"

"Hey, Jumba," Lilo said, closing the door behind her. The huge alien sat in his customary spot at his desk, his laptop open before him.

"And what are you to be doing here?" Jumba asked, his sentence structure still off, even after a year on Earth.

"Nothing," Lilo said with a shrug, "Just board."

"Ih," Stitch chimed in, his voice gravely, "Board."

"Then you are being in best of luck!" Jumba exclaimed, turning his bulk around in the chair. "Because Jumba is finding out what is making uncanny fog!"

"Is it an experiment?" Lilo asked, suddenly excited. Jumba nodded, causing her to rush over to his desk and look at the computer. Sure enough, the experiment files were open, a blueprint-like picture of one of Jumba's 627 evil genius experiments displayed on the screen.

"Experiment 562. Purpose is to create a thick fog to conceal friendly troops and confuse enemies," Jumba stated, handing her the laptop so she could examine it better.

"Any idea where it would go once released?" Lilo asked, flipping into experiment catcher mode.

"562 will most likely be going to largest source of water. Is needing water source to make fog," he explained.

"We're on an island, Jumba," Lilo replied, "We're surrounded by water."

"Sorry, Little Girl," Jumba said, "Is nothing more I can do."

"At least we'll have something to do," she said, handing him back the computer. "Come on, Stitch." The two turned to leave.

"Wait," Jumba called, an idea dawning on him, "Be taking 003 with you. You won't be able to see, so maybe he could be hearing experiment's thoughts?"

"Okay, thanks Jumba," Lilo called back before she shut the door. The two exited the house, passing by an exasperated Pleakley, who was getting a little bit too invested in the soap opera he was watching. As soon as they stepped out of the door, the thick fog effectively blinded them, causing Lilo to trip on the last step and fall flat on her face into the sand. "Any idea where Jason is?" Lilo asked once she spit all the sand out of her mouth. Stitch nodded, and then spoke once he remembered that she couldn't see him. He filtered through his different vision settings, trying to find one that worked. Thermal was no good due to the fog's cool temperature; x-ray didn't work because the fog didn't count as a layer, causing him to see through everything else. But, despite the obvious drawback, the one that worked best was his normal vision, since there was still an area around himself that he could see. Grabbing Lilo by the hand, he led her around to the back of the house.

Sure enough, after stumbling around for a little bit, they found the newest addition to their ohana. Jason sat on the back porch, looking out into the fog. As they approached, he turned his head and smiled. "Hey there," he called out, letting them follow the sound of his voice. He sounded a little like Jumba, only a little higher and without the accent.

"I should have known," Lilo said as she and Stitch stumbled out of the haze. Jason's only reply was a toothy smile that nearly took his ears. Ears, Lilo now noticed, that he kept tied back like a ponytail. Like almost all of the experiments, his ears were similar to Stitch's, only without the chunks taken out. Short, green fur covered his entire body, lighter around the chin and belly. A major difference was that he had a full head of hair separate from his fur. When he had first come to them, that hair had been jet black, but since then, it had faded to a dark gray. Another difference was his eyes. Unlike nearly all of the other experiment's, whose eyes were totally black, 003's were broken by a the white sliver of his pupil. That, and he had a third eye, set vertically in his forehead. Though, it hadn't opened since the day that he had both tried to kill them all, and saved all of their lives.

"Not a good day to practice," Jason admitted, patting the two sticks lying next to him. Every day since they had been declared a part of the family, he had gone into the backyard in the morning and practiced sword fighting with a pair of sticks he had found. 'A useful skill,' he would say if anyone asked, 'Especially for someone without any powers.' Stitch would practice with him sometimes, the two having a dual for no better reason than to have fun.

"You shouldn't be practicing anyway," Lilo said, pointing at the bandages wrapped around his torso. "What did Jumba tell you?"

"To just take it easy until I'm fully healed. If I don't I'll have to wear the wraps for another week," Jason replied, sounding like he was just repeating something he'd heard a hundred times. A little over a month ago, they had fought with Hamsterviel and some of his own experiments and 003 had gotten hurt bad. First he had gotten impaled with spines to save Lilo's own life, then he got shot with a laser to save Jumba's life. In the end, he had survived, but how was something that they were all still trying to figure out. "So why did you come to find me?" Jason asked, sliding off of the porch to join them.

"Jumba says that it's an experiment that's making the fog, and you're going to help us find it," she answered. Jason just cocked his head to the side, allowing his gesture to ask his question. "Just read it's mind."

"That'll only work if I'm close," 003 replied, "Within a quarter of a mile is the max range."

"Then we should get going," Lilo said, gesturing for him to follow as she and Stitch walked away. They stumbled through the mist for nearly a half hour before they even got to the beach, and then they spent another hour walking around the coast. Every so often, 003 would stop and try to listen to any ambient thoughts for the experiment. Whenever he did, Lilo would watch him as he stood there with his eyes close, waiting for the third eye on his forehead to open. That eye was the focus of his powers, but since it wouldn't open, he had been rendered powerless. All he could muster now was some unpredictable mind reading, and a few simple illusions that faded with time. Although it wasn't any of her business, Lilo couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. Jason always said that his full powers would come back, but sometimes she didn't believe him.

"I've got something," Jason muttered after stopping for his fifth time. "Definitely not human. It seems to be in distress, like it's being attacked. All it can think about is that whatever is fighting with it is keeping it from its job." Falling silent for a moment, 003 placed his fingers against his temples. "It's the experiment, and Gantu is the one attacking it." Stitch didn't need any more information; he just bolted off in the direction that Jason pointed. "Should we follow him?" Jason asked.

"We can't miss him whooping on Gantu," Lilo said with a chuckle, grabbing him by the wrist and leading him in the direction that Stitch had run off in. Already, the mist was beginning to thin due to the experiment's ceased production. By the time they arrived behind Stitch, he had already confronted Gantu and disarmed him of the experiment canister. Stitch growled as he reverted to his alien form, spines growing from his back, antenna sprouting from his head, and an extra set of arms pushing out under his normal pair.

"You'll back off trog, if you know what's good for you," Gantu commanded, just another of his empty threats. Or maybe not, Lilo noted as Gantu reached into his holster for his plasma blaster. Instead of the normal red and yellow, standard issue plasma cannon, a set of silver tentacles snaked across his wrist when his hand got close. As he pulled the squirming mass out of his holster, the tentacles took more of a shape, forming into a symmetrical hand blaster, its tapered tip glowing red. Stitch took a step forward, not caring if the big stupid head had a new blaster or not. Without Gantu even pulling a trigger, the device shot out a deep red laser beam, its aim perfect. 626 didn't even have time to dodge before he was plowed into the sand by the ray.

"Jason," Lilo whispered as Stitch got up and shook himself off, "Help me get this experiment out of here." 003 nodded, and the two slowly moved over to the experiment canister lying in the sand a few feet away. Meanwhile, Stitch charged in as quickly as he could, hoping to rush Gantu before he could get another shot off. But it appeared that it wasn't Gantu who was firing the weapon, rather, the devise itself was doing all of the work. Quicker than Gantu's reflexes would normally allow, the gun re-aimed itself and fired before Stitch was even halfway there. The beam hit him square in the chest, throwing him back into the sand.

"See trog?" Gantu asked with a cocky laugh, "All I needed to kick your butt was a better gun." The weapon fired again, driving Stitch deeper into the sand. Stitch roared, bursting forth from the ground and charging ahead once more. This time, he kept his eye on the strange blaster, waiting for it to fire on its own. When it did, he dodged immediately, missing the ray by a fraction of an inch. Apparently caught off guard, Gantu had no defense as Stitch jumped up and slugged him in the face. The blow sent the twenty-foot tall alien tall alien off of his feet and onto his back. Barely touching down, Stitch jumped into the air again, hoping to come down on Gantu with the force of a freight train. But as he positioned himself over the prone alien, Gantu's weapon arm shot strait up by itself and took an immediate beat on him. It fired, sending Stitch away in an arc that landed him through a lifeguard's chair.

Prying her fingers beneath the edge of the plastic, Lilo popped open the experiment container and loosed the creature inside. Fear making its eyes wild, the experiment bolted, attempting a brash escape. Before it got more than four steps, 003 lashed out with his foot, sweeping the creature off of its feet. It had barely touched the ground before Jason grabbed its arm and held it fast. "We need to get the heck out of here," Jason suggested as Stitch crashed through the lifeguard chair. Lilo nodded her agreement and grabbed the dazed experiment's other arm. Together, they began to drag the experiment across the beach.

"Stitch, come on!" Lilo shouted, "We're leaving!" Stitch climbed out of the wooden wreckage, smoke rolling off of his person. Somehow, that laser had burnt him, 626, the experiment who was supposed to be fireproof. Giving one last look at Gantu's unconscious form, Stitch rushed after them, patting out the smoking spots on his fur. It didn't take his supercomputer mind to figure out that something strange was happening here.

**Sorry about the short chapter, but I've been busy and I still wanted to make good on my promise. **


	2. Chapter 2: Rising Stakes

Chapter Two: Rising Stakes 

"What is this?" Jumba asked in concern as he looked at Stitch's wounds. They were in the alien's bedroom, with 626 sitting on the desk. "There can be no way," he muttered, bringing one of his larger eyes extremely close to the burn on his experiment's shoulder.

"Is he like this a lot?" Jason asked, watching Jumba from the top bunk of the bed. Next to him sat the fog experiment, still encased in the canister. On the other side of that sat Lilo, also watching the large scientist.

"Not normally," she answered, "Only when something doesn't make sense." She looked down at the experiment, squished inside of the container. "Like Stitch getting burnt."

"What are you going to name it?" 003 asked, changing the subject.

"I donno," Lilo said offhandedly. "But there is a club in town that needs a new fog machine." Jason nodded, opening his mouth to say something more, but Jumba's loud exclamation cut him off.

"I am knowing what happened!" Jumba announced, flipping a small microscope appliance off of his face. "626 is not being burnt, he is being disintegrated." He paused dramatically to allow for their gasps of amazement, music to his ears. "Laser is destroying bond between molecules, causing target to fall apart. Ordinary objects would be completely destroyed, but 626 is only getting top layer of skin disintegrated due to his amazing density."

"So is he going to be alright?" Lilo asked.

"I will bandage wound. You are knowing how fast my experiments heal," Jumba said with all confidence. Then his eyes flicked over to 003, "With some exceptions." He then turned his bulk around quickly, pulling a role of bandages out of the desk drawer. Her relief clear across her face, Lilo let out a sigh.

"I think I'll call you Smog," Lilo said, addressing the experiment. The little blue creature let out a strange chirp as the container clouded up with fog.

"Be taking that outside before opening," Jumba said, a weary eye on the canister. Lilo nodded, grabbing the experiment and jumping off of the bed. "003," Jumba's call stopped him from exiting with her, "Come, I wish to be checking your wounds now."

"I didn't get wounded," Jason said as Stitch brushed past him, "I wasn't even in the fight."

"Are not wounds I am talking about and you know it," Jumba shot back, lifting the small experiment onto the desk. He quickly undid the bandages around Jason's torso and examined the wounds with the same microscope devise that he had used on Stitch. The wound he looked at first was about the size of a dime, located just a few centimeters below the experiment's heart. This was where a laser had pierced though him after he had pushed Jumba out of its path. Then Jumba moved onto a couple of other wounds that had been made by bony spikes from one of Hamsterviel's experiments. "Is looking like you are finally healed," Jumba said after a few moments.

"It's about time," Jason muttered, stretching and ruffling up his matted fur.

"Indeed," Jumba agreed, "But I am still wanting you to be careful. Just because you are not having bandages on does not mean you cannot sill reopen the wounds."

"Yes, well, I'll do what I can. I have to do a lot more physical work now that my powers are gone," 003 replied.

"About that," Jumba started, but he was cut off by Pleakley's loud voice on the other side of the door.

"Lilo! You're late for hula class again!" the distressed alien cried.

"Shoot!" came Lilo's voice, accompanied by one of Stitch's alien swear words.

"I've set your stuff by the door," Pleakley offered.

"Thanks," Lilo called back as she ran out of the house, "Bye, everyone." Then the door slammed shut behind her.

"What were you saying?" 003 asked, trying to get his matted fur to stand up strait again.

"Is being about powers-" Jumba started again, but once again, he was cut off by Pleakley. The skinny alien walked into the room and stood in the doorway, his one eye trained on Jason. "We will be talking later," Jumba said, giving up. Jason walked out of the room with a shrug. Pleakley's eye followed him the entire time.

* * *

"Lilo!" Moses called out as she entered the room wearing her hula outfit, "You are late again. One more time and I'll have to call Nani."

"No! It won't happen again, I promise," Lilo pledged, taking her place on the stage.

"Okay. We're going to start over everyone," Moses announced, drawing a collective groan from the group.

"Good job, Weirdlo," Myrtle sneered. Before her posse could get out their collective 'Yeah,' the music started up, and they began to dance. Everything was going well, even for Lilo, who hadn't had time to practice as much as she would have liked. Everything was going well, that is, until the roof vanished. It was as if termites had eaten all of the wood in the blink of an eye, a huge patch of it just disappeared. The only thing that tipped Lilo off was the fine black powder that was now drifting though the sunlight.

"Stitch!" Lilo shouted as Gantu's head poked though the new 'skylight.' The little blue experiment was already in action. He leaped from the chair he'd been sitting on and propelled himself out of the hole, slugging Gantu in the face just as he had done only an hour before. Though he was knocked off of his feet, Gantu was able to retain consciousness this time. He raised that strange tentacle blaster and fired. Stitch dropped back down though the hole as the red beam disintegrated the longest hairs off of his head.

"We all need to get out of here!" Lilo called out to her fellow classmates. She began to lead them to the door, but Gantu's huge foot came crashing though it, blocking them off.

"You're my main target here, hatchling," Gantu announced, pointing the weapon at her. It was then that the stray cat that lived in the trashcans beside the building decided to jump though the new hole in the roof. It didn't know what it was doing, nor that its choice would lead to its death. For it was at the same moment that it jumped that Gantu chose to fire, so instead of hitting his target, that red beam hit the cat. What Lilo saw nearly made her get sick right there. It was like watching the cat go though an x-ray machine, but not come out the other side. The animal's skin vanished, followed quickly by its muscles. All of the internal organs then vanished, leaving only the skeleton, which fell to the ground before turning to dust.

The cat's sacrifice was not in vain, however, for Stitch then head-butted Gantu right in the chest, sending the huge alien back a dozen feet. Lilo stumbled back in shock as those around her ran to the back of the building, screaming. That could have been her, she though as her stomach lurched. She closed her eyes tight, and called for help in the only what she could find. _"Jason! Help us; Gantu is attacking my hula class! Please help!"

* * *

_

Jason was lying down on the couch, watching his favorite show on Discovery Channel when he suddenly sat up with his hand to his head. Within the second he was on his feet, running to Jumba's room. "Jumba! Jumba!" he called, rushing though the open door.

"What is it?" Jumba asked, surprised by his experiment's uncharacteristic behavior.

"It's Lilo," 003 answered, still clutching his head as Lilo's call continued to come in. "Gantu's attacking her hula class, and he said that she's his main target."

"Go start buggy," Jumba commanded, tossing him the keys from his pocket. Jason raced off as he heard Jumba pull open a bunch of his desk drawers. Not a minute later, Jumba came out of the door and hopped into the driver's seat of the purring buggy. As he hit the gas, Jumba sat a duffel bag on Jason's lap. It was quite heavy, and he could feel something poking him though the canvas. Unzipping the bag as they sped though town, the items that 003 found in the bag surprised him, though he didn't know why. The bag was full of guns, plasma blasters of all shapes and sizes. "Be putting on disguise," Jumba said, his phony mustache already plastered to his face. 003 nodded and closed his eyes.

To say that his powers were gone was a bit of an exaggeration, for they were just severely weakened. He could still muster some thought reading, mostly when he didn't want to. His only other remaining ability was some really weak illusion production. That was what he did now. By tricking the mind of anyone who saw him, he was able to make them think that he was a normal looking Hawaiian boy. It was quite the effective disguise, though it started to fade after an hour.

Jumba's terrible park job put the buggy halfway over one of the parking lot dividers, but it brought them to a stop in front of the school, and that was all he cared about. He grabbed the duffel bag off of 003's lap and tossed him a small blaster before zipping it back up. "When we are finding Little Girl, you are to be taking her away from here while 626 and I are distracting Gantu, understood?" Jumba ordered.

"Just like last time," Jason said with a nod.

"Let us be hoping not," Jumba responded as they took off running. It wasn't that hard to see where Gantu was, mostly because he was twenty feet tall and being flung around like a rag doll by something a tenth his size. "Go in and find her!" Jason nodded and ran though the doors as Jumba took a plasma cannon out of his bag.

"Jason!" Lilo called out as she saw him coming though the front door. "We need to get out of here. Gantu's laser thing is too dangerous to risk going out the front, and that is the only exit!"

"Calm down," 003 said as his eyes darted around the area. All of the other people were huddled in the far corners of the room or hiding under tables and behind curtains. "While Jumba and Stitch are distracting Gantu, we're going to make another exit." He grabbed her hand and led her onto the stage. "The dressing rooms are in the back, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Lilo answered skeptically.

"Good, then no one will see us use this to bust open a new door," Jason said, showing her the plasma pistol. So she led the way to the girl's dressing room in the back, and they figured out which wall they were going to break down. Jason lifted the plasma gun and set it to its maximum power setting.

"What are you freaks doing?" came Myrtle's voice from the doorway. She walked into the dressing room, forcing Jason to quickly hide the gun.

"Get her out of here," 003 said under his breath, so only Lilo could hear him.

"Easier said than done," she muttered back. Lilo took a step forward, an action that once again saved her life. Just as she moved, that red laser blasted though the wall and vaporized the spot where she had been standing.

"There you are," Gantu growled, taking aim again. He was about to fire the weapon, when a bolt of green flashed by his face, a well timed distraction from Jumba.

"Go!" 003 yelled, grabbing Lilo's wrist and dragging her back to the front of the school. Myrtle was right behind them, yelling something at him that he didn't care to listen to. "Everyone out the front!" Jason yelled as they entered the main stage. "Go! Go! Go!" Though his appearance was that of a six year old, the authority in his voice was enough to force them all to their feet, and send them crowding through the front door.

"I'm not going," Lilo said as the rest of her class funneled though the door, "Gantu is after me, he won't go after them unless I go too."

"I figured that you would say that," Jason mumbled.

"What's going on here, Weirdlo? I demand to know right now!" Myrtle yelled at the two of them.

"Go Away!" they both shouted at once. Their brief team up was enough to cow her for the moment, and she ran through the doors with the rest of her class. Myrtle was barely two steps out the door when a giant alien fell though the roof. Gantu was sprawled on his back, twisting in pain. But despite his writhing, his blaster seemed to move his arm of its own accord, trying to find something to shoot. It quickly spotted the two of them, and its tip began to glow. 003 grabbed Lilo's arm for the third time that day, and turned around to run through the door. But that was no longer an option, for a large wooden beam had fallen right in front of the door, blocking their exit. Then he heard the weapon fire, and he moved faster that he thought he could. Turning once more, Jason threw his plasma pistol between them and the gun, and then grabbed Lilo and dropped to the ground.

That red beam hit the gun dead on, turning it to dust. But just as 003 had predicted, it had dissolved the gun, but not the plasma. An explosion ensued as the normally contained plasma was released all at once. Chips of stone and splinters of wood fell across them as Jason covered her with his wing. Just then, he noticed something, a thought that was neither human, nor alien. It was like nothing he'd ever heard before.

A roar made them both look up to see Stitch come down through the ceiling, landing on Gantu's chest. Not a second later, that giant wooden beam that was blocking the door fell to the side as Jumba heaved his bulk against it.

"Be getting her out of here!" Jumba ordered, taking aim with his plasma cannon.

"Take out his gun," 003 said as Lilo and he squeezed by Jumba to get though the door. Jumba gave him a questioning look. "Gantu's gun is alive! I don't know how, but I picked up thought patterns from it. If you take out the gun, Gantu won't be a threat anymore." Jumba nodded and then jerked his head for them to go.

"626!" Jumba shouted, "Be getting his gun!" Gantu was on his feet by the time Stitch got the message, and the former policemen's gun was aimed right at him. Stitch's ears went flat as he saw the tip of the blaster glow red, and he was ready when it fired. The red beam lanced in, and Stitch stepped to the side so quickly that his entire body blurred. Jumba's jaw dropped when he saw that, for it was faster than 626 had ever been designed to move. Still moving faster than ever before, Stitch jumped up and grabbed the silver blaster, trying to wrench it from Gantu's grasp. It was a futile effort however, for the gun's metal tentacles had wrapped themselves around Gantu's wrist, and they would not budge.

As he held onto the weapon, Stitch heard the telltale hum of its charge, and saw the red glow at its tip. Stitch braced himself for the pain, and held on tight to the tentacles that made up the weapon's body. Then the weapon discharged and 626 was flung from his perch and into the wall with smoke rising from his chest. But in his hands, he held two squirming silver tentacles. Gantu looked down at the broken weapon in shock as it sputtered and sparked, before throwing it high into the air where it exploded into a large red ball. Instead of dispersing, the huge red orb collapsed in on itself, vanishing into nothingness.

"I'll be going now," Gantu murmured before bolting. Stitch began to run after the defeated alien, but Jumba's firm hand stopped him.

"I believe we are knowing everything we are needing," Jumba said, looking down at the silver tentacles still held in Stitch's grasp. He put his hand on the experiment's head, "And I am very proud of you, 626."

* * *

**Here you go, everybody! I know it's really really late, and I'm sorry. I'll try harder in the future. **


	3. Chapter 3: Return to Power

Chapter 3: Return to Power

Lilo lay flat on the couch, her eyes staring at the blank ceiling. She was so deep in her daze that she didn't even notice when Pleakley asked her if she wanted anything to eat, then left when she didn't answer. But it was this daze, her mind's defensive mechanism, which kept her from thinking how close she had come to dying in the past few hours. For the time being, she thought of nothing, nothing but the blank ceiling.

On the other side of the house, another resident was dealing with his problems in a different way. 003 was in the backyard, working to keep his mind off of what was bothering him. The overwhelming feeling of helplessness he had felt while he watched Stitch beat the crap out of Gantu was now driving his movements as he plowed though the karate movements that he had seen in a movie.

For some odd reason, 003 only had to sleep for about two hours a night. During that time, he would get the same eight hours rest as everybody else, but wake up much earlier. During the night owl hours that he had alone, the powerless experiment watched every martial arts movie he could find on the intergalactic cable that Jumba had "contributed" to the household. But thanks to his heightened brain functions, 003 could watch those movies and retain what he saw, effectively teaching himself karate.

Even as he drove though the motions, sweating like a madman, he couldn't help but think how worthless it was to know a couple of moves from a couple of different martial arts when they were going against enemies such as the twenty foot tall Gantu, or the deadly experiments that Hamsterviel was now producing. Not to mention whatever the new Hamsterviel would end up throwing at them.

Jason growled as the thought flashed though his head, and grabbed his two practice sticks off of the ground without breaking stride. They were just two dead sticks that he had found in the woods behind the house that he had then whittled down to roughly resemble swords. He stabbed and slashed in a pattern he had seen from a poorly dubbed samurai movie. Moving faster and faster, pushing himself harder and harder though simple desperation, he moved though all of the combos from all seven of the samurai movies he had watched. With a shout, he brought the right sword down so its wooden blade slapped the grass, and then fell to his knees in exhaustion. Both swords fell from his hands as he turned to lie on his back.

"You probably shouldn't have done that," came Lilo's voice, "You wound could open back up." 003 turned his head to look at her sitting on the edge of the porch.

"How long have you been there?" he asked, turning his head to look at the colorful sky. From his position, the sun had already set behind the trees, but it still played fantastic shadows on Lilo's face.

"Just a few minutes," Lilo said with a shrug. She was still coming out of her daze a little bit. "I just wanted to thank you for hearing my message."

"You don't have to thank me for that," Jason answered. What he didn't say was that it wasn't his abilities that had let him hear her mental plea, but her own latent powers that had allowed her to send it. But Jumba had made him promise that he wouldn't say anything to her, and so his mouth was sealed.

"If you want to learn to fight," Lilo said after a moment of awkward silence, "I can take you down to Kixx's kickboxing dojo. He'll teach you, even one on one if you want."

"That sounds great," he said, slowly standing up. "But doesn't Nani have a movie night planned?" Lilo nodded. Besides, he thought, Kixx's is probably closed at this hour. They both stepped into the house as the sun sank below the horizon. The family was already in the living room, the television flickering though the previews for whatever Nani had rented. Jumba sat in his chair, with Stitch sitting on the back near his head. Lilo ran to sit with Nani on the other large chair, leaving Pleakley to share the sofa with Jason. Naturally, they sat pressed against the opposite ends of the couch.

* * *

The sun blazed high in the sky, but thanks to a low humidity, it really didn't feel that hot. Four bodies walked down the street, three small, one tall and skinny. Frankly, the only thing that made Pleakley tall at this point was the massive wig he had that easily added another head to his height.

It had taken quite a bit of persuasion to get the alien to come along, mainly the promise that Kixx's was next to a barber shop. And though he didn't say it, they all knew that the reason he didn't want to chaperone their group, was because 003 was a part of it. Despite over a month of living together, he just hadn't been able to get over Jason's attack on him. Jason had said it a hundred times, and he wouldn't be surprised if he said it a hundred more, but Pleakley had already forgiven him. But the alien didn't remember saying it, so in his mind, he hadn't said it. In the end, it didn't really matter, because he was here now, and that was what was important.

The group walked into Kixx's dojo just as the eleven o'clock class was ending. The dozen or so people were filing into the locker rooms, but the dojo's sensei, Kixx, was already cleaning up. He held a broom in each of his four arms, whirling around like a cyclone as he moved down the floor. As he came to an end, a small pile of dust and dirt settled in the corner of the room. Kixx was just about to grab a dustpan when he noticed the group's entrance. Alien words flew from his mouth as he came over to greet them.

"It's good to see you too, Kixx," Lilo said as she accepted his extra firm handshake. Experiments were surprisingly good at picking up the local customs, better, some might say, than their creator was. One could only be a genius at so many things it seemed. "We're actually here on business," she explained, waving her arm to Jason, "He's interested in learning how to fight."

"Is he related to you?" Kixx asked in English, his words slow drawn out. 003 smiled slightly as he realized that his illusion was still up. He'd gotten so used to Lilo being able to see through it that he'd forgotten all about. With a quick look around to make sure that no one was looking, he dropped the disguise for a moment before throwing it back up. "003, I'm guessing," Kixx said, slipping back into his more comfortable language. "502 told me about you and your… problem. I'd be happy to tutor you, but first, I want to see what you've got."

Kixx led him to the center of the dojo floor, dropping into a stance and motioning for him to do the same. Jason lowered into a horse stance, his hands rising in a tiger style fashion. Those kung-fu movies were really old school. "Fancy won't get you any points here," Kixx warned him before they began. 003 nodded, and they were off. Kixx came in with a simple forward punch, but he didn't hold back on speed. Jason parried it without a problem, and even had time to step in with a counter. A purple forearm blocked the jab, and Jason quickly found himself on the defensive again. He ducked and dodged, parried and blocked the four arms as they drove in. The powerless experiment was relying totally on his reflexes at this point, just doing everything he could to keep away from those four fists.

With a well-timed side step, he was able to get back on the offensive. "You're fast," Kixx said as he blocked 003's strikes, "I'll give you that." Jason pressed on, using the speed that was his only advantage. But four arms were easily able to take on two, no matter how fast they were. Not once was Jason able to lay a hand on the kick boxer, but to his credit, the same was true from Kixx's point of view. Not that he was trying all that hard, mind. His next punch was too quick to dodge, and when 003 blocked, the sheer force of it was enough to put him off balance. Another fist came in, and Jason lost his footing entirely. As he slammed into the ground, he was forced to roll out of the way of Kixx's fist. Kixx's blow struck the mat right where 003 had been and instant before. The very ground shook.

"Wow, you're strong," Jason commented as he climbed back to his feet. But Kixx wasn't in his stance. Instead, he was looking around, his brow knitted in confusion.

"That wasn't me," Kixx replied. Jason closed his eyes; focusing what little mental power he had left. Random thoughts skittered across the surface of his mind, but he was definitely able to recognize one of them. It was that inhuman pattern from the hula school, but the order was a little different. There was a definite organization to this one, whereas the other had been too jumbled to make any sense of. But it was the same style, no doubt about that. Just then, Pleakley came running in, his tall wig crooked and frayed. Jason didn't even remember him leaving.

"Gantu's here, but he's been turned into a robot!" Pleakley shouted. His wig nearly fell from his head, but he was able to catch it as a few of the men exited the locker room.

"Yeah, and so was Jumba," Lilo said sarcastically. 003 caught her eye, and with a slight nod, told her that Pleakley was right. It had taken the alien to point it out, but he now recognized the new pattern. It was a halfway merge of Gantu's brain patterns and those of the sliver weapon from yesterday. He absolutely had to see this for himself, his curiosity demanded it. So they ran outside, and the face that greeted them was surprising, to say the least. It was Gantu, that much was sure. But something had been done to him.

Silver tentacles ran their way across his body, each one ending with a tip buried deep in his skin. Each arm was encased in metal, the hands completely smothered by all kinds of weaponry. His eyes shone a bright red, though they seemed completely blank. When he moved, it was with a stiff gait. He saw them and turned his head. The movement was unnatural, much too quick and directed. One arm rose without bending at the elbow, bringing what looked like a super sized laser cannon to bear. There was nearly no charge time, the weapon just fired. 003 grabbed Pleakley's noodle arm as the red beam came in, pulling him off his feet and out of the way.

The beam tore into the asphalt, ripping a trench in the ground. It was obvious that the beam was not the same disintegration ray from the past two days, but they couldn't be sure that that weapon wasn't among his arsenal. "Stay back," Stitch said in his alien tongue, "And keep them back too." Jason nodded, taking a step back as Stitch and Kixx ran into battle. Being able to scuttle along on six legs while Kixx was limited to two made Stitch the faster of the two. He was able to get inside of Gantu's range before he could get off another of those rays, but Kixx was not so lucky. The ground right beside him exploded with enough force to throw the experiment from his feet and slam him into the side of his own dojo. Meanwhile, Stitch had dug his claws into the tentacles intertwined around the giant's leg. With minimal effort, the experiment lifted Gantu over his head and bashed him into the ground as if he were a hammer.

Kixx recovered quickly, and was back in the fight like a flash. He leaped onto the downed foe, and delivered a swift but brutal punch to the back of his head, driving it deeper into the asphalt. As he prepared another rock shattering blow, the sliver tentacles that covered Gantu's body rose up like so many cobras. They wrapped around the purple experiment and flung him away like a piece of trash. The same was true for Stitch as his dense body carved a groove in the sidewalk.

"We need to get inside!" 003 commanded as Gantu managed to get back to his feet. The three of them ran towards the dojo just as Kixx's students began to file out. "Go back!" Jason shouted, the sheer force of his voice demanding obedience. The men turned and pushed, trying to get to safety. Pleakley was taken along by the crowd, nearly losing his wig as he was jostled around. But at least he was being carried to the safety of the building. Lilo and Jason were caught behind the men, and they had to wait for the men to file through.

Stitch and Kixx were trying a new tactic now, which basically consisted of running around in circles to allow the others time to get inside. Normally, Gantu would have been distracted indefinitely by the two experiments, but today, his blank eyed stare saw right through it. While still keeping an eye on the two experiments, Gantu lifted his blaster and fired its destructive beam. His lack of aiming was evident as the beam ran along the top of the dojo, destroying the building's new sign. Rubble fell from the ruined storefront, directly over the only two remaining outside. Jason heard the beam contact, and looked up to see several pieces of plaster and concrete falling toward them. Without a second thought, he grabbed Lilo and threw her back just as the rubble came crashing down.

Lilo crashed and rolled on the ground, finally settling with her back to the pile of rubble. For a moment, she considered not looking back, not getting up to see what she knew had happened. But that, in some ways, was worse than knowing. So she climbed to her feet, oblivious to the sounds of the other two experiments behind her. The sight of the pile was just as she had imagined it, with one exception. His hand wasn't sticking out from under it. In the movies, the person's hand always stuck out a little bit, so you could tell if they were alive or dead. But Jason was completely buried, and she couldn't tell anything. She was able to get some of the smaller rocks away, but the rest were too heavy for her to lift. It was then that she heard it, his soft chanting. "_Light as a feather, stiff as a board. Light as a feather, stiff as a board_."

It had only been a few nights ago that they had tried a levitation out of boredom. It had failed, of course, it always did. But not an hour afterward, she had found Jason alone in Jumba's room, his hand positioned over a rock from the backyard, chanting that same phrase. He had denied it at the time, but she knew the truth. He was doing everything he could to get his powers back. But it hadn't worked then, was it even possible that it could work now? She got her answer almost right away.

The concrete slabs began to shake and float as if they were in a weightless environment. Lilo backed away as they lifted higher. She could see him now, standing in the center of the floating rubble, his third eye blazing a brilliant blue. His normal eyes darted around the scene, taking everything in within the span of a second. A wave of his hands sent the floating rubble soaring into Gantu, knocking him off balance. His fangs showed as he smiled, overjoyed to be back in the fight. _"Stitch!"_ he shouted telepathically as he ran, _"I'll distract him. You guys pull those wires out!"_ Stitch was about to tell him to get back again, when Jason pushed with his mind. Gantu was thrown back as an invisible train stuck him.

"You're going to have to hold him still if you want us to do anything," Kixx said as he ran past. Jason raised his hand, and Gantu stopped cold. "That works," Kixx muttered as he leaped onto the statue still attacker. He and his fellow experiment began pulling the silver tentacles out as 003 held him still. They came out surprisingly easy, but the more they pulled out, the harder he tried to break Jason's hold. After only seven tentacles were removed, Gantu managed to shatter the hold with burst of mighty strength. Stitch and Kixx were thrown from his body before he raised his blaster once more.

"Get behind me," Jason said as the weapon drifted their way. Lilo stepped behind his outspread wings as the beam fired. Behind anyone else, even the invincible Stitch, Lilo would not have felt safe. But she had stood behind his force field several times, and she trusted its strength. The beam slammed into the blue sphere, cracks appearing in the ground as the energy was displaced. It only lasted a second, and then Jason decided to return fire. A beam of blue energy fired from his hand, striking Gantu dead in the chest. He was thrown from his feet and tossed nearly two-dozen yards down the street. 003's beam was not a laser, but a simple blast of force, so strong that it could be seen by the naked eye. Either way, it did the job. Though they only got a few seconds before Gantu regained consciousness, Stitch and Kixx were able to pull out another four tentacles.

Lilo was torn away from watching the battle by a sudden chirping in her backpack. To her surprise, she found Jumba's palm-pilot on the top of the other contents of her backpack. She opened it as it continued to chirp, and was rewarded with a miniature picture of the scientist's face. "Little Girl, I am glad you are answering!"

"Jumba, we're being attacked by Gantu, but there's this thing that attached to him, and-"

"Yes, Little Girl, I am knowing this. He is quite loud. I have finished examining the pieces from yesterday and I am discovering weakness! High voltage electrical discharges will interrupt-"

"Jason!" Lilo shouted before Jumba could finish, "Shock it!" 003 nodded, and focused his energies on the palm of his hand. While he was nowhere near Sparky's league, his electricity generating abilities were nothing to scoff at. In fact, his most powerful attack consisted of gathering as much electricity in his hand as he could and releasing it on contact. But that was not what he was doing now. No, for this, he would need range.

"Clear!" he shouted. It may have been a medical term, but nearly everyone in the universe knew what it meant. Kixx and Stitch leaped away from their melee with Gantu just as the lightning bolt slammed into his chest. Gantu's ability to dodge, it seemed, was in no way enhanced by the thing that was latched onto him. Small arcs of electricity jumped all across his body, sending the silver tentacles into convulsions. The two experiments waited a second, and then jumped back into action. With surprising speed, the two pulled each and every tentacle from Gantu's skin. Even though the holes that they left behind bled a little, they were not as bad as they could have been.

As much as he hated the term, it had been just like riding a bike. Even after several weeks of being powerless, it seemed that his control hadn't waned in the least. His telepathy was enhanced now as well, and it was picking up something quite disturbing. "Get away from it!" he shouted. But the mass of silver tentacles had already reanimated, wrapping around Stitch and attempting to bore into his skin. Kixx attempted to stop it, but a single tendril flicked him away. Stitch's skin was nearly impenetrable, so the tentacles didn't have much luck getting into him, but that didn't mean that they weren't doing damage.

Again, 003 gathered a charge in his palm, running forward as he did so. As soon as he had the charge stabilized, he sent a telepathic image to Kixx, showing him exactly what he wanted him to do. When Kixx got up and started running, Jason turned his attention back to the silver monster. A single burst of telepathy was sent out, unfocused but very strong. It seemed that the message got through, though, as the monster turned its attention away from its probing of 626 and onto him. Using its many tentacles as legs, it charged at him, running much faster than he was able to. That was where Kixx came in. The experiment came up beside him and grabbed him by the fur on his back. With a surge of unnatural strength, he hurled Jason like a living missile.

The silver mass leaped as he was throw, a ruby red eye opening in the center. As they closed, the tentacles began to close around him, but Jason drove on. With a final flap of his wings, he thrust the charge into that red eye, and released it. Thunder roared as the air around them exploded, and lightning ripped into the mechanical monster. Thanks to the timing of his release, Jason punched right through the creature, and fell clear as its now lifeless body collapsed to the ground. He stood up on shaky legs and, after a moment of hesitation, closed his third eye. Stitch came over to join him, rubbing at the bruises that were left after that thing's savage attack.

"Looks like you don't need to come to my dojo after all," Kixx said with a crack of his neck.

"I wouldn't say that," Jason replied with a smile, "There's always more to learn.


End file.
